THE PROCESSION. 



377 



having a patron. It was the fiesta of this saint 

 which was now celebrated, and to which we were 

 formally invited. We accepted the invitation, but, 

 having had a hard day's work, we were taking sup- 

 per rather leisurely, when the patron came in a hur- 

 ry to tell us that the procession was ready, and the 

 saint was only waiting for us. Not wishing to put 

 him to this inconvenience, we hurried through our 

 meal, and proceeded to the church. 



The procession had formed in the body of the 

 church, and at the head of it, in the doorway, were 

 Indians bearing the cross. Upon our arrival it be- 

 gan to move with a loud chant, and under the di- 

 rection of the patron. Next to the cross were four 

 Indians, bearing on a barrow the figure of the saint, 

 being that of the Saviour on the cross, about a 

 foot high, and fastened against a broad wooden back 

 with a canopy overhead, and a small looking-glass 

 on each side. This was followed by the patron 

 and his mayoles, the padrecito and ourselves, the 

 vecinos, or white people of the village, and a long 

 train of Indian men and women, bareheaded, in 

 white dresses, and all bearing long lighted candles. 

 Moving down the great steps of the church with a 

 loud chant, and the cross and the figure of the saint 

 conspicuous under the light of hundreds of candles, 

 the coup d'oeil of the procession was solemn and 

 imposing. Its march was toward the house of the 

 patron, and, on turning up the street that led to it, 

 we noticed a rope stretched along it for perhaps a 



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